All I can feel is pain. My head is pounding, my throat is dry, and the entire lower half of my body is in agony. And something feels wrong with my left leg. I can't figure it out, but something's wrong. Why is it so quiet? Wait, there's a noise. A beeping. God, that's annoying. The noise is drumming into my skull. I wince, and try to open my eyes. Nope, not happening. I'm exhausted. But as hard as I try, I can't figure out why. Why does everything hurt? Why am I so thirsty? I'll try again. It takes a couple of mental tries before my eyes flutter open slowly. I blink twice, and try to lift my hand to push the hair out of my face, but I can't.

Something's dragging my hand back, and a I look down I realize there's a needle sticking out of my hand. I suddenly feel the urge to vomit, and I frantically try to lift my arm up. I hate needles. My other hand is scrabbling at the needle. I have to pull it out! I don't know where I am, and I feel like I'm going to be sick. All I can see is a blinding white light, burning into my skull. My vision blurs with panic as my breathing becomes more rushed. I can't breathe, I can't get the needle out.

Suddenly, a head appears in my vision. Light blonde hair and these startling blue eyes glace from my face to my hand trying to tug the needle out of my arm. A hand is quickly placed on top of mine, preventing me from pulling the needle out, and I flinch. I've seen eyes like that before. But where?

Jake.

Suddenly, everything comes rushing back. The beating. The knife. The tree. Those boys. Wait, not just any boys. One Direction. What the hell were they doing there? They've only made it worse! He'll still be able to find me. He'll still be able to hurt me. And now he has yet another reason to call me weak, worthless, a waste of space. I had to be saved. Again. I couldn't even break up with him without four other people standing beside me. I'm so weak.

Those eyes are still staring at me, and almost unconsciously I pull back. He's already found me! I wrench the hand off my wrist and jump out of the bed I'm in. I feel cold tiles beneath my feet, a second before an incredible pain shoots up my left leg and I crash to the floor. There is also a pain in my hand as I realize the needle had been ripped out when I landed on the floor. Two hands grab my upper arms, and I shake them off and shuffle backwards in terror. An involuntary scream escapes my mouth as the blue eyes appear in front of mine and a hand is placed on my shoulder. I close my eyes and anticipate the fist that is surely about to connect with my head.

But nothing happens, and I slowly open my eyes again, still huddling backwards. I'm shaking so badly, just waiting for the inevitable punch. But all I see is blue eyes, gentle and caring, staring at me with a terrified expression. Those eyes. They are a different sort of blue. A kinder, more gentle blue. Different. My breathing starts to slow as I realize it's not Jake I'm staring back at. My shaking body relaxes as I finally let the person scoop me up and lay me back down on the bed.

But the pain in my leg isn't going away. In fact, it's getting stronger. I start to moan as the agony shoots up my rib cage, and my head is throbbing with a new sort of pain. My vision is going a little bit blurry around the edges, and I hear a distant cry before I slump backwards and my eyesight goes black.

---

Niall's POV

"Please, we need a doctor!", I cry as I see her slump backwards. She's ripped the IV needle out of her hand, and she must be in a lot of pain. A man in a white coat and a nurse rush in, pushing me away as they run to the girl's side. Liam comes round the door, and almost in slow motion, starts to pull me out of the hospital room . I cry out, "No!", and try to struggle and run back to her, but his arms wrap around me and gentle guide me down the corridor to a row of seats that the rest of the boys are sitting in. I collapse onto a seat, and try to hold back a sob. What have I done?

Zayn leans over and silently puts an arm around my shoulder. I stare out the ground, trying to prevent the tears in my eyes from falling, but I fail, and a hot tear trickles down my cheek. Zayn pulls me closer, and I lean into his chest, slowly drying my eyes on his t-shirt. I sit up to see Harry, Louis and Liam all leaning over the phone we found. "It must be hers," says Liam, stating the obvious. "We don't even know who she is!" I say, bending over the phone as well. Harry wordlessly unlocks the phone, and pulls up contacts. Sure enough, at the top, large lettering states a name.

Brooke Edwards.

This girl's name is Brooke. There's a picture of her cuddling a dog, with someone with blonde hair leaning into the frame in the background. I scroll down the screen, and another label appears. Best friend - Caitlin <3 . Louis hands me the phone. "Call her right now now, we have to tell someone." I wordlessly dial the number. It rings, and rings, and rings. No answer. I throw the phone down onto the seat in frustration. Louis looks up at me. "Don't worry Ni, she might just be in the bathroom or something." I pick up the phone and call again. No answer. I'll try once more. All of the boys are watching me as I dial her number. But again, no answer. A tear leaks out of my eye as Harry sighs and crouches in front of my chair. "Niall, we've done all we can. We just have to wait now!"

"I know, I just feel so bad! We found a girl half dead from a beating and God knows what else, hiding in a tree. She was so terrified in that hospital room when she woke up, I think she thought I was someone else! And now I can't even contact anyone who might be able to help her!" I'm yelling now, more tears dripping down my cheeks. I just don't know what to do. Liam leans over and wraps me in a hug, and Louis pats my back reassuringly. Suddenly, the seat starts to vibrate. It takes me a few seconds to realize it's Brooke's phone, and I fumble to pick it up.

“Hello?” I say.
“Yes, hi… have I got the right number? I’m calling for Brooke?”
“Caitlin, right?” She's got an Australian accent, her voice concerned and worried.
“Uh, yes... Wait, who’s speaking? Where’s Brooke? Is she okay?” She's starting to get panicked, and I try to keep her calm.
“Love, calm down. She’s at the hospital. She’s in good hands. We’ll tell you more when you get here.”
There's a few seconds of silence before her voice rings out again.
“Niall?!!!” She's already figured out who I am. These girls must be big fans. But there's no time for autographs now.
“Caitlin, love, come to the hospital. We will explain everything there. We’re on the second floor, Ward 27. The nurse is expecting you.”

---

Brooke's POV

The doctor had to put the needle back in, but now I realize it was an IV drip. I'm in the hospital. This is the seventeenth visit Jake has caused. I feel stupid now, thinking about walking alone in the dark. I knew he was here, but I guess I wasn't careful enough. He was always going to find me though-

My thought train is interrupted by the sound of running footsteps, and my door banging open. I see a glimpse of Caitlin's tearful face before I am enveloped in a warm, long hug. I relax in her arms as I feel her tears soaking my back. "I-I-I'm so sorry Brooke, I should have never let you go alone in the dark, I'm the worst best friend ever!", she cries. I gently hold her at arms length, and look her in the eyes. "Cat, none of this was your fault. NONE of it. I love you so much, and I'm just glad you're here! By the way, how did you know I was here?" She wipes her eyes and giggles. "Weeeeeell, I was in the shower and when I got out I had three missed calls from your phone. When I rung back, Niall freaking Horan picked up! I JUST HAD A PHONE CALL WITH the NIALL HORAN! It did kinda suck that it was about my best friend being in the hospital, but still...! Niall Horan. Me. Talking on the phone!" She shakes my arms in excitement, but quickly pulls back when I wince. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Brookie!" I smile, and shake my head. "Nah, it's ok, I'm just a bit stiff. "A bit stiff my arse! You're in the hospital looking like you've been attacked by a bear or something! I need to know what happened to you!", she cries, and I guess I do owe her an explanation.

There's footsteps outside the door, and soon five heads are poking around the door frame. Five male, English heads. "Yeah, I think we'd like an explanation too!", a deep British voice says with a smile. Caitlin and I look up, my hands going to cover my mouth. I struggle to keep my internal fangirling to a minimum, but Cat doesn't even try. "OHMYGOSH, they're here?!", she screams, jumping out of her chair. I think I just burst an eardrum. She runs over to the door, receiving hugs from the bemused lads. She grabs Harry's hand and pulls him into the room, the rest of the boys following quickly. She's still jumping around like a madman, while I'm sitting up in my bed, smiling like the Cheshire Cat. They all grab chairs, and drag them over to my bedside. I'm just sitting there, watching, and suddenly I'm overcome with emotion. "Th-thank you so much for what you did." A tear rolls down my cheek, and I lift my hand to wipe it away, blushing. I'm in front of the One Direction and I'm crying. Zayn stands up and wordlessly comes over to me, reaches down, and pulls me in for the best hug of my entire life. Quickly, it gets heavier as the other boys pile on top of us, and soon we're all lying on my bed, laughing. I can't believe what is going on right now. Niall reaches over and wipes the tears off my face, smiling gently. "It was all we could do. It's not every day we get to rescue a damsel in distress! " They all climb off the bed and settle themselves around me, Caitlin still grinning like a maniac. "So spill it Brooke! How did you end up in hospital, with One Direction waiting outside your room?", she demands.

I look down, my smile fading as I remember what happened in the carpark. "Was it Jake?", she whispers, holding my hand. I nod, not trusting myself to speak, and one tear slides down my cheek. "It's ok, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to..." Niall quickly speaks up. "No, no, you guys deserve to know what happened", I say, still looking down. I take a deep breathe, and recall everything that happened. My voice gets shaky as I tell them about the knife, and I lift up my shirt to look at the white bandages covering the left side of my stomach. Caitlin's hand is gripping mine tightly, and she is shaking the whole way through the story. There's a sharp intake of breath from everyone when I tell them about him crushing my ankle into the tree. When I get to falling out of the tree, I hear a sob, and I look up to see Harry with his arms wrapped protectively around Caitlin, who is crying.

I look down, suddenly unable to speak around the hard lump in my throat. It hurts to recall this. A pair of arms wraps themselves around me and I look up to see Niall. He wordlessly pulls me close and I allow myself to nuzzle my face into his chest, my tears soaking his t-shirt. We stay like this for a few seconds before there is a knock at my door, and a tall man with curly brown hair and glasses enters the room. Niall pulls back and I wipe my face on my sleeve, sending a small smile his way. "Hello, Ms Edwards. I am Doctor Bennett, and I'll be looking after you while you're saying with us. I've got the results of all of your tests back. Would everyone kindly step outside while myself and Ms Edwards talk?" Everyone starts to stand up, and I start to panic. I don't want to be left alone, especially with someone I don't know. Liam must notice the panic in my eyes, because he sits back down. "I'm sorry Doctor, but I don't think she should be left alone right now, she has been through a lot." Everyone else takes their seats again, and I smile gratefully at Liam. "That's alright then, as long as you are comfortable with them here, Ms Edwards?" I am quick to reply, "of course!", and the Doctor shuffles his papers.

"Alright, I think we'll start from the top and work our way down. Ms Edwards, you have suffered serious trauma to your head, there is a large cut on your forehead that will take a few weeks to heal. You have also suffered a major concussion, which means you may experience severe headaches and migraines for the next month or so. Your nose isn't broken, but has bad bruising, so it may be painful for the next few days. Your jaw is also bruised, so be gentle when you eat. You have four broken ribs, with severe bruising around the rib cage. This will be painful, so I suggest no hard exercise for the next month. Your arms have severe bruising, and you have a minor fracture in your left radius, so no heavy lifting for a few weeks. Your hands are very cut up, probably from climbing the tree, so they may be a bit sore for the next few days while they heal. There is a very deep cut in your stomach from a knife, which we have had to put stitches in. This means no heavy exercise while you have the stitches in, which should be about a month or so. Your right leg is pretty ok, just some minor bruising, which may be a little bit painful. However, your left leg is a completely different story. Your knee was severely dislocated, and a section of your kneecap actually shattered. We have managed to relocate your knee, but there are still bone fragments in your joint, so we will have to take you into surgery to get them out. This means your knee joint is very weak, and so you can't put any weight on it for at least two months. Your left ankle is completely shattered, and we will have to remove some sections of the bone in surgery. The broken bone actually punctured the skin, meaning we can't put it in a cast until the skin has completely healed. This means you won't be able to walk on your left leg for at least two months. You also broke your pinkie and middle toes on your left foot, and these will take around a month to heal. Overall, this means we will keep you in the hospital for about 2-3 weeks, and see how well you have recovered by then."

The doctor finally finishes the huge list of injuries, and blows out a long breath. Everyone's looking at me in shock, and suddenly Niall stands up and runs out of the room. I look at the door he's just run through, and I try to get up out of the bed to go after him. Strong hands gently push me back down, and I see Liam holding me back while Harry runs out of the room to go after Niall. Everyone else is still looking at me, waiting for tears or screaming, or... any reaction at all. But I'm just sitting here, trying to process the effects Jake's rage has had on my life. Finally, I look up.To be completely honest, I am terrified. Internally, I feel like screaming my heart out. But no one needs any more of my emotional baggage. I force a smile onto my face, and look around brightly. I notice Caitlin is crying, and I grab her hand. She looks up at me, and I hold her face in my hands. "It's ok, we're going to be ok, I promise", I say, looking into her eyes. She shakes her head softly. "What are we going to do? We live in a shitty apartment on the twelfth floor! You can't even walk and you have uni, and dance, and work, and... I don't know how we are going to do this!", She sobs.

"We'll figure something out Cat, we always do." But this time, I'm not sure that we will.

Notes

Hey guys,

I'm so so so sorry for the delay in updating, I've just got a lot going on at the moment! My dance show is this weekend, and I've been doing roughly 9 hours of rehearsal a week for it!

I hope you really enjoy this chapter! I've been working on it for a while now, I'm not very good at writing in Niall's perspective yet sorry :(

I would really appreciate if you could comment or rate or subscribe, or... just something. I'm not going to be one of those writers that won't update until she gets a certain amount of rates or whatever, but PLEASE, a positive comment would make my day!

It's really hard to live in a home where there's not loads of positivity, so receiving a nice comment on here really lifts me up, and encourages me to keep writing :) I'm sorry if my writing style changes a bit, I write my content based on how I'm feeling at that moment, so if this chapter is a bit negative, I apologize.

Anyways, enough of me talking and boring you guys (I doubt anyone read this far anyways lol), but I hope you have an awesome week!!

Lots of love,
Half_a_heart x